Impressions of Peace

“We all live together
We belong together
This Mother Earth and I

All this song will always be
Better by reason
God's clear light
Make sure you feel this life
Flow all inside of you now

All this song will always be
Better by children
Let them sing
For always be the Light

It's another day
It's another way
It's another feeling in my heart

So if ever there's a question
So in part there is an answer
Remember that it's always in the heart of you

To begin this conversation
So intent to get the level
In everything your sacred life is going through”

Lyrics by Jon Anderson - Earth Mother Earth

I love the autumn months and for me there is no more beautiful time to be alive in northeast Ohio. I spend my days picking apples, walking in beautiful places, smelling the windfall apples and the fresh grapes that are everywhere this time of the year. I ride a most beautiful horse and we take to the trails on wings jumping the logs in our path, greedily eating the last of the precious berries that are clinging to the vines. The trees are resplendent with their cloaks of plum, rose and gold while acorns bounce playfully from the great oaks that have been my companions for my entire entire life. Fresh pumpkins are everywhere and the harvest is full, rich and abundant. This I take for granted as if it will always be here and yet this year I am brutally aware that time is passing quickly, that every moment is precious.

This is the beginning of my 50th year. For the first time in my life I haven’t known where the path is. I am no longer a child and I don’t remember when that happened. My body is changing, my son is grown, my own mother is recently gone. My world is changing and I feel it in my bones in a such a way that it that I am completely unsettled and yet my life is good, very very good. However there is a lingering question in my heart as to what’s next and sometimes I have felt very very afraid. I have been much quieter than usual, trying to still the cacophony of thoughts banging against the walls of my brain.

Yesterday, I received a package from Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfumes. I knew that it would contain a sample of her newest perfume to be released on September the 21st in honor of The United Nations International Day of Peace. I was thrilled to receive it but only later did I really find out why.

I opened the bottle and took a very deep sniff. It was beautiful and very sweet with a tinge of something toasty and satisfying like the fragrance of rich earth , freshly mown hay and tobacco drying in the sun. There was an element of fire woven through it , yet I also sensed notes that were cooling and luscious, full of the dancing energies that only a true botanical perfume can possess. I put some on and drove out to the barn as it was turning towards dusk and I just had the sense of something big, but I didn’t know what. Maybe it's silly, but I do believe in magic, truly I do.

I saddled my horse and as we headed into the woods I felt a shiver run down my spine amazed as I looked up to see a very large bird flying low and fast through the trees. I was intrigued, we kept moving forward as he flew in front of us and yet I couldn’t truly see him. There is only one bird that flies through the forest without a sound and I longed to see him. We continued cantering down the trail but then I stopped and looked directly up and to the right of me. There high in the tree sat a barred owl, eyes unblinking and round with a chest full of the most beautiful feathers that I have ever seen.... a being of absolute and profound power. Suddenly I began to cry and I told him silently of everything , I shared my pain utterly and completely. We stared at each other for quite some time and then something told me that it was time to move on, but as I trotted away I heard the gift in his call...”Remember... Remember ... Remember”.

Suddenly I was filled with laughter recalling the wonder of my life and all of it’s sweetness. Suddenly the pain became part of it all and something to be cherished, just another simple part of the continuing circle of my life. Life is meant to be lived in every moment and by always letting those that you love know exactly how you feel about them.

We speak of peace on earth, we speak of peace between men. I believe that the word means something different and precious to everyone of us and I wonder, how can there be peace between us all if we have not found it in ourselves , if we’re not willing to go into our own dark places to fight long and hard for it? How can we cherish the lives of others if we don’t do the same for our own lives ? How can we possibly save our planet if we're too afraid to save ourselves? I want to believe with my whole being that peace truly does begin deep from within and then spirals outward touching everyone that you meet. I truly believe that we can be our own miracles.

All of Roxana’s perfumes are beautiful, but this precious expression of peace is particularly powerful and utterly lovely. I do not know the individual notes of this perfume and my heart prefers it this way. She has given it no name, focusing instead on the universal symbol of peace, preferring for each of us to be personally inspired without the preconception that a name could bring.

There is something in the alchemy of this perfume that is a shamanic template for personal power, a prayer for the fullest flowering of human expression and a wish for peace between us all. It is my fondest hope that you will feel moved to experience it's magic for yourself.

Roxana will be giving a portion of the proceeds from each of the 7 gram liquid perfume flacons and solid compacts to the POE (Project Peace on Earth) organization to facilitate their vision of a global prayer concert for Peace.Please be sure to visit Roxana's Journal for a chance to win a sample of the glorious new liquid perfume or one of the adorable mini solids in the new fragrance.

For more information:
Roxana Illuminated Perfume
http://www.illuminatedperfume.etsy.com
http://journal.illuminatedperfume.com


Project Peace on Earth
http://www.project-peaceonearth.org

http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org

Please enjoy the beautiful words of others who are writing today to honor this lovely expression of peace:

Bitter Grace Notes: http://bittergracenotes.blogspot.com
Cleveland Fragrance Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-5804-Cleveland-Fragrance-Examiner
Portland Fragrance Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-4780-Portland-Fragrance-Examiner
Roxana Illuminated Perfume: http://journal.illuminatedperfume.com
Indie Perfume: http://indieperfumes.blogspot.com
Memory and Desire: http://memoryanddesire.typepad.com
Perfume Shrine: http://www.perfumeshrine.com
Perfume Smellin' Things: http://perfumesmellinthings.blogspot.com
Scent hive: http://scenthive.wordpress.com
The Non-Blonde: http://thenonblonde.blogspot.com

Perfume Image courtesy of Roxana Villa

"Peace Has Begun" by Greg Spalenka

Bee Here Now- Diving deep into the hive

"I dedicate these erotic meanderings to playful lovers and, why not?

also to frightened men and melancholy women"

Isabel Allende

 

Warning to all , but no surprise to most who know me well. I am not shy. What I've written here is very intimate, so if you're not ready, turn back now. After that, I'm not responsible......

I love honey......I love to eat it, bathe in it and  make love with it. There is almost nothing as satisfying to me as the smell of  raw honey, not even chocolate, which I adore but only in small quantities these days. I love to break a fresh honeycomb apart with with my fingers and lick the sweetness that drips from it and the beeswax and the pollen that clings to it are ambrosia for my tastebuds.  Honey perfumes are to me among the most coveted of fragrances because of their ability to send my imagination wandering into thoroughly exquisite places.

 Honey has some very practical qualities too, such as it's ability to become an proven antibacterial when mixed with fresh garlic. The next time that you get a cut try a salve of crushed garlic and raw honey . You will be amazed at the swiftness with which it can heal and you can feel good knowing that you've treated yourself and your skin very well! In fact Lush, that fabulously fun company based in the UK that makes the most wonderful vegan products recently had a call from several nurse's in England to make a soap that could naturally kill the MRSA virus. the result was "13- Unlucky for dirt!" and you can find it on their website. Created from essential oils of oregano, rose and filled with honey, it  has been used successfully to fight the spread of this dangerous virus much more successfully then the antibiotics that contributed to creating it.

But all of this practicality is beginning to bore me!

Like Cleopatra and so many of the other wild women before me , I love to warm a potion of fresh honey ,  heavy cream, organic rose petals and drops of ylang ylang oil for my bath.  Raw honey mixed with brown sugar, rose absolute and a bit of olive oil makes a wonderful scrub for the skin, imparting a softness and a beautiful fragrance guaranteed to arouse. Honey in a squeeze bottle  gently  warmed and mixed with a bit of organic vanilla extract and a touch of rose water quite simply becomes dessert for two drizzled in all of the right places. If you're really earthy, mix in a bit of truffle oil in place of the vanilla and rose water. It is a truly ambrosial combination that's sweetly animalistic, dripping with sensuality and infinitely lickable! 

 

For totally unabashed sweetness , apples dipped in  honey are an ancient recipe that you can have fun  feeding to one another and sliced juicy melons drizzled with honey are the ultimate sticky and slippery play toy. To quench my thirst I love to make a simple homemade wine by decanting a bottle of  riesling  and infusing it with sliced meyer lemons, fresh rosemary and a tablespoon or two of a finely spiced honey. Served well chilled on a summers eve it's a delicious accompaniment to the effervescent fireflies and the moonlight. Served with a platter of handpicked grapes, a softly yielding pear , ripe figs and a wedge of Manchego cheese that has a bit of fresh honey comb broken over the top ,  it's a very rich feast indeed. Fed to each other by firelight it's practically Bacchanalian and I dare you to try to stay untangled........

 

There are many exquisite honey fragrances but the solid perfumes created by botanical perfumer Roxana Villa are like dripping butter, so rich are they with beeswax and other sensuous oils. When you open one of them and run your fingers over the surface, the beeswax  instantly melts into your fingertips, sliding down your skin like a precious unguent. I am begging her to make me a body butter that I can use after a warm evening bath or during a massage scented with honey and other wonderful things. I cannot even imagine how good it would feel to be caressed everywhere by such an exquisite potion. If she is good enough to make me one I will let you know and maybe,  just maybe I'll share......

One of my other pleasures is a delicious product made by Kama Sutra called "Honey Dust". Kama Sutra for those of you who haven't made its acquaintance is a wonderful product line that's been around for quite some time now. Kama Sutra uses excellent ingredients and they do not animal test. They are devoted to making the art of lovemaking delicious! They have created delicious warming gels and yummy body souffles, but the Honey Dust made with real powdered honey is just incredible. It comes in 4 flavors, but being a bit of a purist I love the traditional Sweet Honeysuckle flavor the most! Honey Dust is a simple and easy to use product. Entice your lover into bed and open the container. Take the feather brush provided, dip it into the tin and lightly stroke it over any and every place that you want to kiss and be kissed. No further instructions required! You can make your own "Honey Dust" as powdered honey is readily available but I think that you should splurge and buy the real thing. The containers are beautiful and totally enticing and just feel like a very special occasion. They make a little "Weekender Kit" that's filled with delicious things to play with. Go to their site, blush a bit and then order something for the two of you. Trust me, you'll be very glad that you did!

Why you may wonder, all of this rhapsodizing tonight about honey? It's because my adored honeybees are in grave danger from Colony Collapse Disorder. It is a sad sad state of affairs for them and a dismal omen for our very survival on this gorgeous planet that we call home. It's a very simple truth, no bees.... no food, no flowers, no bees, no food.   We cannot live without the pollinators because we've yet to figure out how to pollinate without them on such a scale that would feed us all. The stunning stark truth of what this means is that every time a hive dies from CCD, we lose a bit more of the fight to sustain ourselves on this planet and we tread much closer to famine on a global level. The realities of this are truly frightening.

Many of us in the perfume community are very concerned about Colony Collapse Disorder, so much so that quite a few of us have devoted our columns today to our beloved honeybees and the joys that they bring into our lives. Please take the time to go to their "Hives" and read the delightful prose of my fellow bloggers. It's our first  "Bee Here Now" event and I know that you will love their Bee-utiful words. Take the time to learn about Colony Collapse Disorder and what it means. It's not to late, but we need to act now. 

 

 

www.perfumeshrine.com 

scenthive.wordpress.com 

 
thenonblonde.blogspot.com 

 
www.examiner.com/x-5804- 

www.examiner.com/x-4780-  

journal.illuminatedperfume.com

Bee Illustration ©Roxana Villa

For Kama Sutra Products- http://www.kamasutra.com/

For 13- Unlucky for Dirt soap - http://www.lushusa.com/shop

To learn more about Colony Collapse Disorder- http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/bees.asp